Just Back for Double Dip May 11-15th

sasser05

Cruising Forever
Joined
Feb 22, 2005
Messages
118
We have just returned from a fantastic double dip, 2 days at Castaway and one in Nassau. Perfect weather. Windy at times but truly beautiful. Anyone have questions I am happy to help.
Will do more details later.
 
Glad to hear you had a great trip...we are doing the 4 day DD in July....would love to hear details!! Did you do any excursions at Nassau? If you have chilodren, did they enjoy the Kid Club??? Thanks!!
 
Welcome back! We are on the Wonder on May 25. Do you happen to have the navigators that you can post? If not, I am specifically looking to see the kids clubs activities for my 4 year old DD. What time and day do the kids club get to dance with Snow White?

Glad to hear that you had a great time and perfect weather. Look forward to reading your details.

Paul
 

Glad to hear you had a great trip...we are doing the 4 day DD in July....would love to hear details!! Did you do any excursions at Nassau? If you have chilodren, did they enjoy the Kid Club??? Thanks!!

we did not do any excursions in Nassau we wanted to have one day to enjoy the ship and with the other days being on Castaway we chose to stay on board that day.
I have a 7 year DD and she chose not to do the kids club being her 5th cruise she has seen and done it all. She loved it the first 4 times but until she gets into the older kids group and they change some activities she did not want to do all the same things. I will get the navigators up soon.
 
We arrived at the port around 11 am and checked in and got on board around 12:30, DW, DH, DD (7) and my mom (as my husband said our DMIL, Disney Mother-in-Law). We ate lunch at Parrot Cay. The selection and quality was impressive as usual. Tuna wraps and fresh fruit salad for me (DW). DH was very impressed with the Island Chicken. We normally won’t overdo it at lunch because we know how much more great food is yet to come.

We then went up to deck 9 for some drinks, got into our rooms promptly at 1:30 cabin 2011 and 6317. After 4 previous trips we knew where we wanted to be. 2011 is about as forward as it gets, with nothing above but the Walt Disney World Theater, there was nearly no noise after 9 pm at all the whole trip. We chose 6317 because it was off the main hall and there was no one across from us making for less traffic.

We got to the sail away party about 5 minutes early to get a nice table on deck 10, but in no time we were surrounded but party people. This time around they were handing out streamers, and with the wind blowing they seamed to never rest. As we cast off DH pointed out a large fire that must have just started, just off on the horizon. We knew it was pretty big because of the massive amount of smoke that was now getting blown out to sea, almost right over the ship. Turning on the news over the week, we soon found out that the brush fires in Palm Bay were a national story on CNN.

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The Disney ship always follows the Mariner of the Seas (Royal Caribbean) out of the port. But this day, just as the Mariner was about to hit ocean, the ship had some kind of emergency. It very abruptly docked right at the mouth of the port. As the Wonder was sailing past, in a very narrow alley, we could see fire rescue, ambulances and patrol boats approaching the Mariner. We also got a super close up view of the ship and it’s passengers as we all waved to each other. We all assumed it was some sort of medical emergency.

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We were determined not to be rushed this trip, according to DH this was a beach get-a-way and he was less concerned with attending shows or meals, and more concerned with doing nothing at all! Well, according to me, it wasn’t going to be all about sleeping and laying around, but I would allow some ‘down time’. Also, we decided that instead of trying to get DD to the Kid’s Club, we wanted her around as much as possible this time, in fact she never made it there at all this time. Although in past cruises, we found it hard to get her out of the club. It could have been because she had already had done a lot of the 5-7 (and 8-9, she was bumped up last cruise to be with her cousins) activities.

The first night’s show was with entertainer Mark Eddie. But because the Navigator didn’t say what he did, DH called down to find out what exactly he did. Guest Services said sometime he did music and sometimes comedy but mostly he did music so we voted and it was decided we would skip Mark and head instead to Bingo! DD was particularly enthralled with Bingo and the MC was very entertaining and funny. In the end we didn’t win with any cards, but DMIL did win the final raffle and was awarded a diamond charm braclet which she gave to DD.

Before we knew it, it was time for dinner. Our rotation was PTTA. In four previous cruises we had early seating at Animators and felt like we were always a little full already first so were ready for the change. At 8:15 we arrived at Parrot Cay hungry. I had Ceasar and a grilled Chicken dish (I don’t remember what it was called but it was good). DH had the Grouper, Casear Salad and an onion soup (he wasn’t thrilled with the soup but I’ve never known him to like much soup). There was chocolate cake for dessert, which was yummy. I won’t go into the food too much partially because I don’t remember some of my meals, but also because we aren’t too adventurous. Chocolate Cake was pretty much dessert all the way through, and if it wasn’t on the menu our server ‘found’ some for us from somewhere else.

We were eager for CC the next day so headed back to the cabin, but DH and DD did go up to shoot some hoops. They must have been gone an hour or so but when they returned the looked very tired. They said it was extremely windy on deck and made it tough to shoot any hoops but they had a blast trying! It wasn’t hard falling asleep that night.

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sasser- Nice photos and scans! We were on that cruise, too. Loved it. Mark Eddie was actually more comedian than music, and was very enjoyable to us. But you can't gripe about free diamonds, either!

poohcorner- My 7y/o liked Oceaneer's Lab a lot. She said it wasn't as fun as the DVD made it look but she sure looked to be having a blast every time we peaked in, and she wanted to go there a lot.
 
Were going May 25 on the 4 night Wonder and can not wait. You are making it very exciting. I love the navigator and looking forward in seeing the others. I may have to alter my plans to make sure everyone has the chance to do what they want to do. It looks like they offer so much. You can't do it all.

Stephen
 
Thanks MaryC1965!

Here is the second days Navigators in advance of the commentary (which won't be too long, as the rest of the trip was simply flat out dreamy).

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Day 2 - Castaway Cay
A very windy day indeed. But Captain Henry was able to get us into the island with no problems. He has got a better handle on it now then in previous years when we have missed the island with similar sea and wind conditions.

The beach of course beautiful, breathtaking, picture perfect (except for a little seaweed blown into the lagoon with the wind). As we were jotting down the path to the beach, someone in a golf cart drove up Captain Jack. He really played it up, pretending to be drunk like he was sleeping on the beach and they had to go wake him. As he stumbled around a couple of cast members helped him walk over to his picture position.

Anyone seeing Castaway (especially the adult beach) will be hooked. We had Cookies BBQ and it was fantastic, Jerk Chicken, Skirt Steak with corn salsa (delicious!), hot dogs, hamburgers. DD and I especially loved the great fruit, ice cream and cookies.

Of course every crew member we came into contact with was very nice and helpful. Only one guy, our room service delivery guy Hemlet, let us down. It wasn’t like he was rude or mean, but he never smiled. There was no Disney Magic from him. Maybe he was training or maybe he didn’t know a lot of English but he just didn’t speak or have any kind of reaction to anything. I thought he was a little creepy, but DH asked I give him the benefit of the doubt.

This night we were invited to the Castaway Clubhouse invite only party for repeat cruisers. They played the same great videos we saw 6 months ago and offered free cans of soda, bottled water, lots of snacks and some other extras. We were on board with Barb and Tony who have cruised 62 times. We are still in shock at their total travels.
Cruise Director Peter was the best. Made my daughter feel special and every time he saw her would take time to check with us to see how it was all going and to make sure we were all having a good time. He is so happy and the true definition of Disney Spirit. DD was always impressed that he knew our names.

This was our dress up night which we decided to skip this cruise (remember DH said, this is a beach get-a-way cruise, let’s relax). So we ate at Beach Blanket for a casual, table service dinner. They were serving Animator’s menu. The Turkey with Cranberry Sauce was amazing and a great alternative to the dress up dinner. Besides us, most of the other patrons were crew officers.

Toy Story was much better than people have been posting about, very entertaining great visuals and costumes. It was a nice change. We loved Hercules show but Toy Story was new and fresh and everyone enjoyed it.
 
Too cool!!! Can't wait to hear more on day three and see navigators. One week before we head out. keep the reports coming.

Thanks,
Stephen
 
For those who sailed last week on the 1st double dip (I had friends go but cannot reach them to ask this question) when is Pirate Night? Is it when you leave Nassau or is it the last night? Thanks!
 
Love your TR! We are double dipping in July and can't wait to read more! Thanks so much for your comments and especially the navigators!
 
Day 3 – Nassau

DH and DD were up bright and early ready to hit the pools. We know from past experience that on Nassau day people are off the boat early but tend to get back on early also and then hit the pools. So at 9 am in the morning, the Goofy pool was basically empty and the Mickey pool only had a couple of kids there. I hit my usual spot overlooking the island on deck 10 to lay out with DMIL. Eventually we went to pick up wraps for lunch and DMIL went to Vista for a spa package. About 2 I went freshen up in the room and soon after DH and DD arrived to get showered. DH wanted to take off to get a drink and a cigar so DD and I went to see The Game Plan in Buena Vista Theater. The Rock was VERY funny.

We had skipped The Golden Mickey’s the last 3 cruises so could barley remember what it was about. We are glad we finally caught up, another very good show if not a little forgettable. It was pirate night so we hit the gift shop for some pirate gear. We got a very reasonably priced pirate combo pack that included a very neat sword DD wouldn’t put down.

Dinner was at Triton’s and by this time I was always feeling full so pretty much ordered salad and appetizer’s the rest out the way out. DH did comment that Grilled Shrimp and Seared Scallops on pasta was much better expected (he’s not a big fan of pasta) and was probably the best dish yet.

The Pirate party is always nice, if not a little tame. Remember, there is only so much they can squeeze into one day and by that time of night most kids are pretty tired. We got our usual primo spot on deck 10 for the fireworks, right where the characters come out of the door, so we got to ham it up with the pirate gang while they were waiting to go down to 9. Peter (cruise director)was there and we named our stuffed parrot after him; he seemed to get a kick out of that. After the party was the pirate buffet, and while all the girls had dessert, DH was having funny putting on his best pirate act, with eye patch, parrot and a humongous turkey leg!

At some point this day, we booked cruise number #6!
A 7 day Western in Oct 2009. Already can’t wait!

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Thank you so much for posting so soon and for posting your navigators. We on on the 4 day Wonder June 8 and I have been wondering about the navigators!
 


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